Five things we have learned about 2016 so far

The festive days of stuffing your face with turkey sandwiches and pigs in blankets are now a distant memory.

We are 11 days into 2016 and our ‘New Year new me’ promises have already been broken.

So what have we actually learned about 2016 so far?

Here’s five things which have already caught our attention...

1. Dry January

A friend of mine perfectly summed up Dry January for me when she said: “January is already bad enough without giving up alcohol as well.”

For me, that statement is hard to argue with.

I mean, what exactly is there to look forward to in January? We are months away from our summer holidays and it only seems to get more difficult to get out of bed.

The idea that people go 31 days without booze to raise money for charity can only be applauded.

But why do the rest of us have to hear about how they are struggling to stay in on the first Friday of the year on EVERY single social media channel? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, WE GET IT...

2. Health kicks

So how many of you have already kicked the healthy eating into touch and picked up a double cheese burger?

We set out every year with good intentions to ‘eat clean’ but not that many actually persist with it for 52 weeks of the year.

Last week I saw a few new faces in the gym, some of them have been in since and seem to be committed, but I would put money on a number of others never making another appearance until the first week of January 2017.

But as someone recently reminded me, us gym-goers shouldn’t moan about the newbies taking up the rowing machines, as they didn’t moan when we crowded their pubs on New Year’s Eve...

3. Snow warnings

Just when we think that we have avoided the cold weather, the Met Office issue a number of snow warnings.

Most people don’t mind a bit of snow around Christmas time, as long it does not cause mass disruption. But not in January.

The last thing we need is to have to de-ice our windscreens on a cold January Monday morning and then battle through the snow to get to work.

4. Tight budgets

Perhaps this is related to Dry January.

Are people are pretending to avoid the booze to give their body a break, when in fact it’s because they are skint? Perhaps.

Those ‘extra’ Christmas presents we bought are now coming back to haunt us, forcing us to live off selection boxes until February.

One of my University friends told me he has set himself a budget of £6 a week for the rest of the month. And he is not one for Dry January.

5. Why does everything break?

Whether it’s your washing machine, oven or problems with your car.

Not only does your bank balance read -£12, but our cars decide they need a new part that you’ve never heard of before.

Then of course the snow that the Met Office predicted hits, causing us to curse everything about the New Year all over again...